Driving and more driving today through mountains - the mountains here look like they have been twisted by earthquakes. The layers of rock are sometimes vertical or in wavy patterns and stick right up like teeth. We had no idea Turkey was so mountainous and green. We drove to Lake Van and around the mountains to the south of it, at one point going over a pass that was over 2000m high. We got to Van and headed east towards the Iranian border but stopped near the town of <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } A:link { so-language: zxx } -->Hoşap where there is a ruined castle. There's quite a military presence around the area.

Overnight was very cold - frost on the tents during the night! The morning was warmer and sunny and we headed to Hoşap Castle to climb all over the ruins. It was built in the 1600s and is quite well preserved, despite being a ruin.